This invention relates to article holders in general and more particularly to organizers for holding a set of articles, generally articles of ascending and descending size, in such a manner that the articles will be securely retained in the holder while being readily identifiable and available for use.
Article holders in accordance with the invention are particularly useful, for example, for holding sets of small operating tools such as wrench sockets, however, the invention is also applicable to use for holding and retaining numerous other forms of tools, and like articles such as medicine bottles and the like.
There is a particular need, for example, for an organizer which will securely retain a set of work tools such as wrench sockets of ascending and descending sizes in a manner whereby the articles are readily available to a user, so that they may be removed and replaced from the holder by feel, and wherein they may be organized in the holder in an ascending and descending orientation so that, should the user remove an incorrect size article, the next size up or down will be readily available adjacent the article removed.
Organizers of this type also fulfill a need in other work tool and like applications.
Applicant is aware of the following U.S, patents relating to holders and organizers for wrench socket and like articles. None of these patents, however, discloses article holders having the particular features of construction of the present invention.
______________________________________ 1,961,450 T. Petersen June 5, 1934 2,995,280 P. J. Thierry Aug. 8, 1961 3,004,270 W. E. Cowley Oct. 17, 1961 3,405,377 J. B. Pierce Oct. 8, 1968 4,150,746 V. A. Buglione Apr. 24, 1979 4,154,340 R. W. Beebe May 15, 1979 Des. 225,272 R. W. Wheeler Nov. 28, 1972 Des. 256,425 J. T. Hayes Aug. 19, 1980 ______________________________________
Broadly stated, an articl holder in accordance with the present invention comprises a housing having a base wall and a top wall defining a hollow space therebetween, an opening in the top wall, an article receiver of tubular form located in the hollow space with the opening defining an open end of the receiver, the receiver being slit longitudinally to make it radially expandable and contractable, and the holder further including resilient means embracing the receiver for exerting an inwardly directed radial contraction force on the receiver resiliently resisting radial expansion thereof so that an article of suitable size inserted into the receiver may be frictionally retained therein by resilient expansion of the receiver and the resilient means. For a cylindrical article such as a wrench socket, the receiver is of circular cross section tapering radially inwardly from said one end toward the opposite end with the resilient means in the form of at least one endless band of resilient material surrounding the receiver. The holder may further include an article stop extending from the base wall into the opposite end of the receiver for determining the level to which the article projects from the top wall of the holder when inserted into the receiver.
For use as an organizer for a set of different size articles such as wrench sockets, the holder includes plural openings, article receivers, and stops as aforesaid for the articles, the respective openings and receivers being sized to retain the different size articles and preferably being arranged in ascending/descending order, the heights of the respective stops above the base wall being related to the lengths of the respective articles so that the articles each project above the top wall substantially to the same level. This arrangement enables the articles to be securely frictionally retained in the respective receivers but readily removed when required.
In one form of the invention, the respective stops may be provided with ejector mechanisms including a pushbutton projecting from the top plate of the holder and a lever linkage connecting the pushbutton to the respective stop so that the stop is elevated to eject an article responsive to depression of the pushbutton.
These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.